Holders of honorary degrees should not force people to address them as Doctors-Qualifications Authority

The Zambia Qualification Authority says it shall not recognize honorary qualifications and that any honorary qualification shall not be registered and accredited on any level of the Zambia Qualifications Framework.

The Authority has since advised recipients of honorary degrees, professorship and doctorates to avoid misleading the general public and to preserve the integrity of earned degrees.

Authority Director Miriam Chiyaba explained during a news briefing that recipients of honorary qualification may use it on the curriculum vitae but list it under awards and honors and not under the qualifications section.

Mrs. Chiyaba has advised that whenever the title Dr. is used in the case of an honorary doctorate, the abbreviations h.c which stand for honoris causa should be used or the recipient should state “Honorary Degree” in full against their names.

She said the Authority will start engaging individuals who have honorary doctorates in order to make them understand the Zambia qualifications framework.

This call was only possible because the Education Authority is not yet infuriated by PF cadres. I wont be surprised if Sunday Chanda and Mumbi Phiri calls for disbandling it. Only PF cadres think their bought honorary equal 3-4 years true enguiry and PhDs. Whe you are a Dr., you are licenced to doctor any theory and knowledge within your facaulty, but through debates as peer review process demands…Not some kaponya, and LT busy worshiping a bunch low IQ chimps as Dr…

Honorary doctorates can only be compared to pre-school education. People like Maureen Mwanwasa who use the title Dr are laughing stocks in the academic community. PHD’s have made a discovery that has added to knowledge. It is the highest academic achievement ! You cannot compare a PHD scientist who has discovered a drug that can treat cancer to Maureen Mwanwasa Chikopo. The are not equals. She had discovered nothing! Same with that Chiluba and Mwanwasa. Please do not respect people with PHD’s who have earned their qualifications with lazy,corrupt people!

GOOD RULING. A DEGREE QUALIFICATION DOES NOT JUST COME ON A SILVER PLATTA. ONE SPENTS A FEW YEARS OF SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, AND COMPLETELY FORGETTING ABOUT ONE’S SELF. IT IS EVEN HELL FOR US WHO HAVE BEEN PAYING FOR OUR DIPLOMAS AND DEGREES. YOU EARN THESE DEGREES. TEKUSWA FYE NGA MASUKU. SO, IF YOU DID NOT EARN YOUR PhD THROUGH TOIL AND SWEATING BLOOD, PLEASE, REFRAIN FROM FORSING PEOPLE TO CALL YOU ENGINEER, OR DOCTOR. IN FACT IT IS ONLY BEFITTING TO ADDRESS MEDICAL PhD HOLDERS, DOCTORS.

I HAVE JUST READ THE ARTICLE, NOW. THIS IS A VERY GOOD ARTICLE. AT LEAST IT HAS PUT PEOPLE WHERE THEY BELONG. AND IT WILL ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO GO TO SCHOOL FULLY AND ATTAIN FULLY BAKED QUALIFICATIONS INSTEAD OF HALF-BAKED QUALIFICATIONS OR NOT EVEN BAKED AT ALL. I HAVE BEEN TO UNIVERSITY OF PROPERLY EDUCATED DOCTORS WHO ARE NOT EVEN ADDRESSED BY THEIR DOCTORATE (Dr) QUALIFICATIONS. THEY ARE SIMPLE AND JUST CALLED BY THEIR FIRST NAMES, DESPITE THEM BEING SERIOUSLY EDUCATED PhD HOLDERS.

Can the Zambia Qualififications Authority also advise us how to handle one person who has all the following titles: “Man of God, Reverend, Bishop, Pastor, Doctor Joe Imakando”? What is your advice to such people?

For instance, Dr VJ Mwaaga h.c, Dr Maureen Mwanawasa h.c, Dr Nevours Mumba h.c, Dr Kenneth Kaunda h.c, Dr Kambwili h.c, Dr Lusambo h.c etc… Had it not been for Dr Kambwili h.c and Dr Bowman Lusambo h.c we wouldn’t have known the difference… because as stated above the difference then, was the same kikikikikikiki… Now the problem with the new titles they will appear and sound more learned than the Professors hehehehe….

Maureen Mwanwasa is the worst! She bought the law qualification as well. I pity those clients she represented because she actually does not know anything about law. That creature cannot present an argument in her native language and certainly not English!

@4. PLEASE, DON’T USE THE WORD/PHRASE PROFESSOR IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS. PROFESSOR HAS GOT LITTLE TO DO WITH A UNIVERSITY QUALIFICATION. THE WORD/PHRASE PROFESSOR HAS GOT ALL TO DO WITH THE POSITION/PROMOTION IN THE HIGHEST INSTITUTION OF LEARNING. MOST PEOPLE INCLUDING THE HIGHLY EDUCATED PEOPLE THINK AND REFER TO PROFESSOR-SHIP AS IF IT IS THE HIGHEST QUALIFICATION IN THE HIGHETS LEARNING INSTITUTION- UNIVERSITY. OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSITY INSTITUTION, PROFESSOR-SHIP MAY EQUAL TO DIRECTOR-SHIP. THIS MEANS THAT IT IS THE HIGHEST PROMOTION OR POSITION IN THE HIGHEST INSTITUTION OF LEARNING- UNIVERSITY. THERE’S NO PROMOTION OR POSITION BEYOND PROFESSOR-SHIP AT A UNIVERSITY. SIMILARLY, THERE MAY NOT BE A PROMOTION/POSITION BEYOND DIRECTOR-SHIP IN A COMPANY OR ORDINARY BUSINESS. SO,…

Next will be a crackdown on these valueless PhD holders, you are next bane……, lets clean the air to protect those who have genuine education, be it a diploma, MA, PhD, doesn’t matter as long as its genuine and the person is reasonable enough corresponding to their education.

The only thing you can get out of an “honorary degree” is an invite to a ceremony and one bottle of mineral water and a thank you letter. I only respect those that have earned an actual doctorate as opposed to the “Bowmans”. I however do not respect or regard one “Mushota”.

The lady is committing treason because she is not recognizing honorary doctorates. Let her involved in a imaginary accident then the treason charge shall be laid on her . No bail …..
Zambia for real….
where was she when many of Zambians have been conferred these ‘honorary doctorates’? Has she consulted the “GREAT LEADER”? or she is speaking to please the GREAT LEADER?

Mockery to education.People are spending sleepless nights to obtain the best in their education,only for someone to go behind the back and obtain a tissue of a paper.Let’s be serious with our education system.It is an erosion and misplacement of the best values in our education system.We need to do away with these so called honorary tissues.

Mandela was a great leader who never accepted these honorary tissues.He deserved it but could not put on the jacket of ”doctor”.But nonenties are very fast in need of being called ”doctors” It is a big shame!!!!

My MBUYA Mushota has a PHD…. MBUYA PHD DR MUSHOTA , DAUGHTER of the GREAT LEADER, OF THE GREAT INVESTOR IN UK, WITH GREAT IDEAS FOR GREAT ZAMBIA….
HAIL OUR GREAT DOKOTA MUSHOTA, ACCA, CIMA, MASTERS DEGREE IN KAYA,PHD FROM GLASGOW UNILUS OR SORRY UNIVERSITY OF GREAT BRITAIN CONFERED BY GREAT QUEEN ELIZABETH OF GREAT BUCKINGHAM PALACE…..
DOKOTA MUSHOTA YOU ARE GREATEST OF THE GREAT WISE WOMAN IN THE WORLD….. KUDO TO YOU….

Zambia Open is in Utopiah – it is imaginary!! I agree with your question! In fact the problem of fake qualifications is exacerbated by Zambia Open University which issuing lots fake degrees both at undergraduate and post graduate levels!
Students study on their own and nobody that pays their tuition and exam fees fails – no rigour of testing and a bright niece can do the assignments for you! Even that dull stu.pid ZAF commander Eric Chimense will be awarded a PhD degree by Zambia Open in September even without passing any test??? Look out for Dr Chimense uumensa banyina!

Phew!! About ‘dam’ time.. This circus of Dr so and so will lead our youth to start seeking shortcuts.. Im certain Lusambo, Kambwili and gang already pass comments like “lupiya edoctor not sleepless nights and hardwork”. Ba ZNBC and other media please take note. Your job is to inform the masses not mis-inform them by promulgating fake titles.

There is a distinction between a “title” and a “professional qualification”. If you are awarded an honorary doctorate, you can’t use it as a professional qualification, for example to practice medicine.

If you are awarded an honorary doctorate, then you do have the right to use the title of “Dr.” Just because we have not been recognize by some institutions shouldn’t make us demean those that have.

Ati Dr Nevers Mumba…!!! Pleeeeeease….!!!!! Nelson Mandela, Barrack Obama, yes even George Bush Jr mwebantu were conferred with honourary doctorate degrees but they NEVER called themselves doctor so and so….

It has to reach this level! Why? All because the media including LT are the ones who perpetrate this habit. Its the media which calls certain people like Kambwili Dr even when the media is reminded by plenty of readers that these should not be addressed as Doctors. You the media are embarassing the nation.

Great development; long over due. This will arrest the out break of this disease called PhD, which threatens the culture of hard work. While I may be sympathetic to senior citizen like KK and VJ because they had less opportunities during their prime time, I have always questioned the logic of bestowing such titles on youthful people like Kambwili and Lusambo. The chaps must learn to work for their glory.

Mr. Nelson Mandela was conferred with more than 40 honorary DOCTORATES from GENUINE universities (including UNZA) on ALL CONTINENTS, but he never used the title.

Mr Rupiah Bwezani Banda was conferred with a doctorate by RUSANGU. He wisely never uses the title.

These titles are properly used within academia [so as to inspire students and colleagues to aspire for more], or MUCH MORE CORRECTLY, by MEDICAL DOCTORS (although many of them its their first degree) to inspire the sick that they are dealing with someone who KNOWS what S/HE is talking about.

Chiluba got a DOCOTORATE from UNAM (Malawi) in what should have been in exchage for UNZA to confer a DOCTORATE on the then Malawian President Muluzi. Fortunately, UNZA lecturers, students and Senate refused;

Africans love titles!! In Europe the only time people with PHds will use their titles is at seminars and workshops with peers of the same field. ‘Dr’ should be reserved for medical doctors. Jesus forbade titles: Mathew 23: 8 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Even ‘father’ is forbidden by Christianity except for young children. People do not want to prove themselves all the time, so they insist on titles forgetting that the title was for a particular activity (thesis) and not for everything!! Bill Clinton was a professor, I only knew that when he was defending himself during the Monica Lewinsky saga. We are good at perverting good things such as titles. I would rather be good at something than have a title.

Avoid this ignorance of suggesting that – “Dr’ should be reserved for medical doctors”. “Medical doctors do not have Doctorate of Philosophy degrees. They only have Bachelor’s degrees in Medicine and Surgery. They are given this title of Dr. by virtue of their occupation and not qualification. Only academics in universities have earned PhDs acquired through rigorous scholarship and research. In my view, these academics are the ones who deserve to be called Drs because they are the ones who also train medical doctors. The media in Zambia is largely responsible for the misrepresentation of this, by persistently referring to underserving quacks as Drs. In my view, the Zambia Qualification Authority should publish the names of all those with questionable honorary doctorates in the…

Facts youve got your facts wrong. Medical doctors are not doctors after their bachelor’s degree. It is after their seven year qualification that they become doctors. In some countries you can do bachelor’s degree and go on to practice but you wont be called a doctor. Dentists do that

At least it will bring sanity, others where even forcing people to call them Doctor..Its good they will now be having an h.c included i think they will no longer want to use it. I hope ZNBC will be showing it too…

The Kettle calling the pot black is what we have here. Zambia Qualification authority? Really? Is the nothing more productive or challenging ? Honorary degrees abound the world over. There are so many compelling criteria the onus is on what the bestowing institution values as outstanding service and contribution. So get over it, because honarariums are not going away. Please find something better to do will you? You all sound like a dog chasing its tail!

Avoid this ignorance of suggesting that – “Dr’ should be reserved for medical doctors”. “Medical doctors do not have Doctorate of Philosophy degrees. They only have Bachelor’s degrees in Medicine and Surgery. They are given this title of Dr. by virtue of their occupation and not qualification. Only academics in universities have earned PhDs acquired through rigorous scholarship and research. In my view, these academics are the ones who deserve to be called Drs because they are the ones who also train medical doctors. The media in Zambia is largely responsible for the misrepresentation of this, by persistently referring to undeserving quacks as Drs

Tell me what purpose it serves the general public if a guy with PhD in mathematics flashes his credentials everywhere he goes? Nothing, if you ask me. I work with a lot of PhDs and I have three masters in engineering. Most of them are clueless outside their thesis knowledge. In addition many lack experience because they have spent a lot of time in universities. It confuses the general populace when people using titles left, right and center. Many people will assume the PhD know everything and so they will stand back.
A few months ago I walked in an intensive care unit in a hospital and administered a natural medication to a patient, the patient was out in a few days, she had been in hospital for sixty days. I am not a doctor. The point is that knowledge lies in many places, including the…

The point is that knowledge lies in many places, including the general public. It creates confusion when some people assume they know it all. We should start being inclusive if we are to solve Africa’s problems. That is why we import everything, even though almost all the materials are from Africa.

kikikikikikikikikik, thank you to the education authority. Please can you follow up on those masquareading as Doctors eg Kambwili, bowman, cosmo etc please we work for these qualifications and its not fair to allow thugs misusing important tittles that we have earned let them go and read if they want recognition. I feel bad that some nonentities can masquaread as Drs . Quacks such as bowman surely should not be refered to as DRs…. its not making sense.

Comment:
@Maikalange.
Barrack Obama’s JD is earned.
Just google, bwana.
The use of the title ‘Dr’ in everyday life is not considered appropriate elsewhere.
Chancellor Merkel, citing just one example, has a PhD in physics, but is plain Ms Merkel everyday.
Sadly, in Zambia, VJ, Nevers, among several others, shamelessly flaunt their unearned bits at every opportunity.

lt all boils down to inferiority complex. There was a time when degree holders in ZCZCCM were preventing holders of diplomas in engineering to take up the position of section engineer because to them a guy from ZIT or Nor tech was not a graduate and therefore not an engineer But surprising they never blocked whites with city and guilds.

Even among the educated some people did not know that Dr Katele Kalumba or Dr Nkandu Luo where not Medical Doctors but PhD holders.In most countries Prof titles are chairs in the University, you do not take them with you.In Zambia people front their titles in politics .If people like their qualifications and titles so much,one wonders why they do not stick with the University, so that they can continue using those titles.